Errors with Ubuntu 9.10 install

[sunrise-7]

I am providing this feedback in the hopes that it will provide some constructive criticism, which if taken and worked with, may make the expansion of the use of Linux, and the Ubuntu distribution easier and faster.

Here is the MAJOR disappointment.
I was hopeful that if I could download a distribution which could be run from CD, others could easily be encouraged to try it. I went to the main Ubuntu site, only to find that Ubuntu 9.10-desktop-i386.iso, http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download, was obvious. It was noted as a version that could be run from CD. After a 3 hour plus download, I eventually was able to convert to iso to something readable Here is the outcome:


Attempted a Temporary Install on an Acer 3610
Hopeful that if all went well, I could recommend to others.
Would NOT run from the CD, autoloaded or by RUN
Necessary temporary modification of boot was indicated.
Installation proceeded with Dual boot menu.
Reviewed auto installed options. Decided to remove.
Keyboard entry was mistranslated: @ showed as # (no e-mail access)
Wanted to install much more desired Ubuntu 8.04.1LTS version.
Uninstalled temporary Ubuntu; left with dual boot menu.
Unable to remove dual boot menu.


My Recommendation:
REMOVE the Ubuntu 9.10-desktop-i386.iso distribution and replace it with something more error free in installation, which CAN be run from CD, and which CAN be uninstalled with the dual boot menu being returned to the original. The above kind of hassle for a non-Linux user will likely garner much negative publicity and an extended absence from further tries, for many.


Secondly, the Derivatives page, http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5, complicates and confuses a visitor who just wants to TRY Ubuntu Linux and not devote hours to intellectualizing and reading technical considerations before downloading something. Yes, one could go to each of the home pages of the many distributions and possibly find something with a great deal of patience and time. It would make the Choice much Easier if there was a short annotated listing on the page. That is, something which mentioned the TWO greatest benefits and limitations of each distribution. Not a Sales promo of benefits only. Limitations help us avoid disappointments.


Please consider these suggestions.
They can only make a visit to Ubuntu.com more inviting and satisfying.

[phillw]

Hi & Welcome

Rule #1 -- Use the 'Verify CD' option on the CD.
Rule #2 -- Ensure that the LiveCD runs happily in 'try without altering my computer mode'

As for 'Sales promo' Errrmmm - It's all free ?!!!! It is 'try before you buy' - except it is free.

So, my advice to all newcomers is - do a bit of reading up on the various flavours of Linux. Then do a bit of reading up on the versions available for the flavour you want.

Go onto the support boards, look at the FAQ's.

Linux is not windows - the reason for so much choice is that there is. You are not limited to 2-3 applications to do something. You can find one that pretty much does it as you want.

Oh, and to remove grub ?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708

Regards,

Phill.

[akand074]

After a 3 hour plus download, I eventually was able to convert to iso to something readable Here is the outcome:

Conver to iso? The file you download from the ubuntu is already in iso format ready to burn directly onto a disk (use a software that can burn an image like nero if your on windows). After that put in the cd and restart and boot into the cd, choose "try ubuntu without installing it" and your into the live cd.

There are what, over 10 million users of ubuntu and growing, I bet most of which who have gone into the live CD before. This has nothing to do with a problem with ubuntu as much as mistakes you made, however you managed to do that. Its honestly ridiculously easy to do, all you have to do is download, burn, and boot into it theres not much room to make a mistake unless theres corruptions with your download or burn, I'd recommend verifying the data after burning.

Anyways I'd say try burning the image you download again and don't bash ubuntu for your mistakes.

[Kaner]

It certainly sounds like it was user error rather than any problem with Ubuntu. Like the previous poster stated, you just download and burn, there`s no need to do anything else to the download before burning it onto disc. Another choice would be to just request an Ubuntu disc be mailed to you, (it`s free as well) and avoid the whole download/burn steps.

[photogolfer]

:(Hello, I am new to Ubunto, although I did get a copy of Ubuntu 8.10 on a magazine cover disc. That didn't load on to any of my three machines so I gave up on it. However, things change and recently there arose the need to try again so I downloaded 9.10 iso and burned that to disc. That didn't work either even though I used the verify disc option. I tried a version from a different mirror and that didn't work. I then discovered a xubuntu 9.40 for amd64 ( my main machine has Athlon 64 3200 cpu ) and that doesn't work on any of my machines. I have a KVM switch and thought that might be getting in the way so took that out to no avail.
More or less the same thing happens all the time - I try the first option of trying the os before installing it but each time it gets as far as the desk top then stalls so that the mouse pointer doesn't respond nor does the keyboeard.
So, my conclusion is that I agree entirely with sunrise - 7 that Ubunto is not nearly straightforward enough to encoursge new users. Criticise Windows all you like but it does install without too many problems in my experience. Out of stuborness I shall browse the forums, more from curiosity but I must say that I cannot raise any enthusiasm for your beloved Ubuntu. It looks like a load of old tripe and all I have to show is a pile of discs that are destined to become coasters.
I am though, willing to eat my words if someone gets me running:(.

[akand074]

:(Hello, I am new to Ubunto, although I did get a copy of Ubuntu 8.10 on a magazine cover disc. That didn't load on to any of my three machines so I gave up on it. However, things change and recently there arose the need to try again so I downloaded 9.10 iso and burned that to disc. That didn't work either even though I used the verify disc option. I tried a version from a different mirror and that didn't work. I then discovered a xubuntu 9.40 for amd64 ( my main machine has Athlon 64 3200 cpu ) and that doesn't work on any of my machines. I have a KVM switch and thought that might be getting in the way so took that out to no avail.
More or less the same thing happens all the time - I try the first option of trying the os before installing it but each time it gets as far as the desk top then stalls so that the mouse pointer doesn't respond nor does the keyboeard.
So, my conclusion is that I agree entirely with sunrise - 7 that Ubunto is not nearly straightforward enough to encoursge new users. Criticise Windows all you like but it does install without too many problems in my experience. Out of stuborness I shall browse the forums, more from curiosity but I must say that I cannot raise any enthusiasm for your beloved Ubuntu. It looks like a load of old tripe and all I have to show is a pile of discs that are destined to become coasters.
I am though, willing to eat my words if someone gets me running:(.

Well, first off give us a more detailed explanation of the problem your having because I don't know what the problem is, installed fine without a question of a problem on my laptop, desktop, my friend's desktop that I installed it on and several other friends of mine and millions of other users without a problem. So give as much detail as you can so we can work with it. Also what is the hardware of your computer?

[photogolfer]

:)Thank you akand074 for your response. very prompt. Maybe this community is Ok. I will stick to one download. It is Ubuntu 9.10 from a USA mirror. The computer boots from the disc, I select English Language, then 'try before installing'. Installation halts on the orange desktop where the mouse pointer and keyboard stop responding. Whilst loading the desktop the pointer does move briefly. Then I have to reboot the machine to Windows.
I have Windows XP Home Edition service pack 3. AMD Athlon 64 3200+ cpu on a Gigabyte K8NF-9 motherboard. 512 mb memory,Samsung SP0812C hdd with 10.5Gb free space, NEC ND-4550A DVD writer and Lite-on SOHD-16P9SV CD-ROM. I have an Epson printer and Canon scanner plus an external hdd connected by usb all of during 'installation'. I also have a Netlinker USB connection to a second XP machine which is turned off when I try to load Ubunto. It is actully on that machine that I really want to install Ubunto but installation fails there as well. I hope this is enough to give you a clue as to what is happening.

[darkod]

:)Thank you akand074 for your response. very prompt. Maybe this community is Ok. I will stick to one download. It is Ubuntu 9.10 from a USA mirror. The computer boots from the disc, I select English Language, then 'try before installing'. Installation halts on the orange desktop where the mouse pointer and keyboard stop responding. Whilst loading the desktop the pointer does move briefly. Then I have to reboot the machine to Windows.
I have Windows XP Home Edition service pack 3. AMD Athlon 64 3200+ cpu on a Gigabyte K8NF-9 motherboard. 512 mb memory,Samsung SP0812C hdd with 10.5Gb free space, NEC ND-4550A DVD writer and Lite-on SOHD-16P9SV CD-ROM. I have an Epson printer and Canon scanner plus an external hdd connected by usb all of during 'installation'. I also have a Netlinker USB connection to a second XP machine which is turned off when I try to load Ubunto. It is actully on that machine that I really want to install Ubunto but installation fails there as well. I hope this is enough to give you a clue as to what is happening.

I didn't understand, were the printer, scanner and other usb devices connected when you were trying or not? Unplug all of them, just for a test, then try to boot with the cd and Try Ubuntu option to see what happens.
Another option is video driver. Maybe it can't use correct driver for your video card by default.

[photogolfer]

Thank you darkod, my printer and scanner were connected but not swtiched on. The external hdd cable was in the computer but disconnected from the hdd. I disconnected the usb cords and rebooted. This time it did not get as far as the orange screen. It froze with a black sceen with white bars top and bottom. Reconnected the usb cables and rebooted with the devices off and this time it got to the orange screen. The only thing that is 'on' through all this is the router.

[sunrise-7]

Thanks Phill for the reply and the Grub removal link.
The other points are that a newbie to Ubuntu is not an expert.
If they basically have a demanding job and use a computer quite a bit, they will unlikely take a holiday to learn and research Linux varieties, until they have some exposure to a version that works for them. I originally downloaded the .iso for Ubuntu 2.6.15-26-amd64-generic --- also Ubuntu 6.06 LTS the Dapper Drake, June 2006 version, and, Gnome 2.14.3, version 31/07/06 earlyin 2007, and ran, installed, repeatedly with NO problem. I would have been happy to download the updated Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS, and share that, but could not find a link! I much appreciate the versions available, yet, I tried 4 in 2000. Three no longer exist.

[photogolfer]

:(Further to my previous response to darkod I have tried to boot with all my peripherals connected and switched on. The result was a black screen with a frozen pointer. I then tried with everything disconnected including the router, all unnecessary leads out. Result - Black screen with menu bar top and bottom and the Ubuntu progrss logo frozen in the middle of the screen.
I then put all the leads back in. All peripherals off except the router which was on and working, - result - boot to orange screen with ponter frozen.:( Any bright ideas from you Linux advocates before I give up the ghost and head straight back to the world of MS Wndows? P.s As I previously noted, I have tried a 'bought' copy of Ubuntu (8.04 on a magazine cover disc ) with much the same results.

[sunrise-7]

Yes, Akand074,correction on typo, I was able to convert THE .iso TO something readable.
The attitude that if anyone has a problem, THEY are doing something wrong, is a good way to remain in denial of REAL problems. As mentioned elsewhere, I had NO problem using, temporarily and permanently, a much earlier version from early 2007.

Here is a possibility.
Nothing new to the microcomputer industry, yet apparently increasing in recent years, manufacturers keep putting on the market lower cost hardware with minimum hardware specs that can barely run anything without errors or hardware upgrades. Perhaps newbies and persons like me looking for something to hand off to friends need to stress checking the min hardware specs for the Linux version be compared with the real specs on the prospective computer. Its a bit of a complication but baring a device test by the Installer program BEFORE proceeding (best), there is only potential confusion.

[darkod]

Sorry, I have no clue what might be the problem. Maybe someone else...

[akand074]

:)Thank you akand074 for your response. very prompt. Maybe this community is Ok. I will stick to one download. It is Ubuntu 9.10 from a USA mirror. The computer boots from the disc, I select English Language, then 'try before installing'. Installation halts on the orange desktop where the mouse pointer and keyboard stop responding. Whilst loading the desktop the pointer does move briefly. Then I have to reboot the machine to Windows.
I have Windows XP Home Edition service pack 3. AMD Athlon 64 3200+ cpu on a Gigabyte K8NF-9 motherboard. 512 mb memory,Samsung SP0812C hdd with 10.5Gb free space, NEC ND-4550A DVD writer and Lite-on SOHD-16P9SV CD-ROM. I have an Epson printer and Canon scanner plus an external hdd connected by usb all of during 'installation'. I also have a Netlinker USB connection to a second XP machine which is turned off when I try to load Ubunto. It is actully on that machine that I really want to install Ubunto but installation fails there as well. I hope this is enough to give you a clue as to what is happening.

I think your problem is that you don't have enough RAM to boot into the live CD (You can't try before installing), but its enough to run Ubuntu by installing straight away. If you went straight into the installer I believe it should work fine. You can also check the disk before installation its also an option in the list. Maybe try and see if it goes into the installation screen, you don't have to actually install it right away just see if it starts installing without trying it first.


Yes, Akand074,correction on typo, I was able to convert THE .iso TO something readable.
The attitude that if anyone has a problem, THEY are doing something wrong, is a good way to remain in denial of REAL problems. As mentioned elsewhere, I had NO problem using, temporarily and permanently, a much earlier version from early 2007.

Here is a possibility.
Nothing new to the microcomputer industry, yet apparently increasing in recent years, manufacturers keep putting on the market lower cost hardware with minimum hardware specs that can barely run anything without errors or hardware upgrades. Perhaps newbies and persons like me looking for something to hand off to friends need to stress checking the min hardware specs for the Linux version be compared with the real specs on the prospective computer. Its a bit of a complication but baring a device test by the Installer program BEFORE proceeding (best), there is only potential confusion.

First off I just personally installed ubuntu on another friend's computer at school today again without a problem. Its not denial its statistics. Obviously if this happened to a large amount of people, it would be an Ubuntu issue and it would be on the top of the to fix list. Anyways thats not whats important. There is quite a bit new to the hardware industry but your right, computers used to be built with good hardware, now all the manufacturers tend to give you low end hardware to save on cost. Regardless ubuntu is not an intensive OS and doesn't need much to run, definitely less than windows vista and 7 (XP as well unless your going all out then they would be on par) so I don't think thats the issue. What exactly is the problem? I don't really understand what your saying about converting the .ISO to something readable because it needs no conversion it just needs to be burned as an image. Could you please give an exact step by step list of what you did starting with the download and the exact errors that came up I think I, or someone will be able to catch any mistakes or where a potential problem may have occurred and we can work from there.

Also sorry for the late response to both of you I had a long day at school and had quite a bit to take care of after.

[photogolfer]

Thank you once again akand074 for your response. I have tried my pile of reluctant discs in the install mode. I can tell you that the first one, the 8.04 cover disc would not get passed the initial progress bar. Three 9.10 discs freeze when selecting the location. A Mint disc also stalled on the desk top installation. A 9.04 AMD64 disc would did work as far as the 'prepare disc space' option where I quit the installation and the 9.10 Alternate (x86) disc I think would have continued with an install if I hadn't quit. So, does this still indicate to you a shortage of RAM? I really would prefer to try before installing if at all possible. Is there any way to check that the memory is the cause of the big freeze? Is there an AMD specific version of 9.10 that I could try?

[presence1960]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

Hint : research F4 & F6

If that does not work use the alternate text based installer. Get that here (http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#alternate).

With all due respect your problems may be caused by hardware incompatibility such as video card issues (see F4 in the first link) or ACPI (see F6 in the first link) or as suggested operator error. You may not be the the last person to make a mistake/have hardware issues and blame ubuntu. The isos on Ubuntu's site are very proven and stable.

Do you even know if your machine fits the specs to run the Live Cd successfully? Find out here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

[presence1960]

:)Thank you akand074 for your response. very prompt. Maybe this community is Ok. I will stick to one download. It is Ubuntu 9.10 from a USA mirror. The computer boots from the disc, I select English Language, then 'try before installing'. Installation halts on the orange desktop where the mouse pointer and keyboard stop responding. Whilst loading the desktop the pointer does move briefly. Then I have to reboot the machine to Windows.
I have Windows XP Home Edition service pack 3. AMD Athlon 64 3200+ cpu on a Gigabyte K8NF-9 motherboard. 512 mb memory,Samsung SP0812C hdd with 10.5Gb free space, NEC ND-4550A DVD writer and Lite-on SOHD-16P9SV CD-ROM. I have an Epson printer and Canon scanner plus an external hdd connected by usb all of during 'installation'. I also have a Netlinker USB connection to a second XP machine which is turned off when I try to load Ubunto. It is actully on that machine that I really want to install Ubunto but installation fails there as well. I hope this is enough to give you a clue as to what is happening.
Out of that 512 MB of RAM how much is shared with an onboard video card? You didn't mention a video card in your specs so if you have less than 384 MB of RAM available after your video card shared memory you will most likely not be able to run the Live CD successfully and may have to use the alternate text based installer. See my previous post to find the specs necessary to run the live CD & the link to download the alternate text based installer.

Also your hardware isn't exactly new so look at the Boot Options link I provided also for some suggestions.

[akand074]

Thank you once again akand074 for your response. I have tried my pile of reluctant discs in the install mode. I can tell you that the first one, the 8.04 cover disc would not get passed the initial progress bar. Three 9.10 discs freeze when selecting the location. A Mint disc also stalled on the desk top installation. A 9.04 AMD64 disc would did work as far as the 'prepare disc space' option where I quit the installation and the 9.10 Alternate (x86) disc I think would have continued with an install if I hadn't quit. So, does this still indicate to you a shortage of RAM? I really would prefer to try before installing if at all possible. Is there any way to check that the memory is the cause of the big freeze? Is there an AMD specific version of 9.10 that I could try?

Yes as was said above, if you have an on-board video card (very likely looking at your specs unless you put one in yourself) then a high fraction of your RAM is actually being used up by your video card. That being said trying it first may not be an option. You can try stuff from the link before to cut down some settings, I had to set noapic once on my old desktop for it to work but its worked on much older desktops with the newer version without having to do that although I have not tried booting into a live cd in them. Honestly though, in my opinion you won't be able to tell what ubuntu is really like from a live cd, your going to have to use it for a while, customize it a bit to your liking install some necessities or cool things to see it at its best. Booting into a live CD for 15 minutes isn't going to give you a good look at linux especially since your limited because you can't download or install anything because your on a disc. You should install it on a separate partition while leaving your windows partition in tact, if you ever want to remove it you can easily remove the linux partition in the future and restore everything back to the way it was.

Also there is no AMD specific version, the version you get should work just fine on both. I think if you want to try it you might want to think about adding more RAM. If you have another PC available thats a little more powerful you could also boot into the live CD in that if your insistent. But yeah what I see the problem is most likely a hardware problem. Which may also be sunrise-7's problem as well if he burned it correctly. I guess thats as far as I can help with what information is given to me.

My recommendation, install Ubuntu on a separate partition, give it a try, if you don't like it, remove it and go back to windows. If you do, then you have both windows and linux available to you anytime :)

[sunrise-7]

The computer my friend has uses Windows XP with 512 Meg memory.
That may not leave enough to boot Ubuntu from CD for a temporary run?
I have ordered a CD by mail as the only certain test.

The problems I began with were:
1. Would not boot from the CD.
2. When Ubuntu was loaded, the keyboard @ key translated as #.
3. When I uninstalled the "trial run", I was left with a Dual boot menu with only Windows to run.

As I did emphasize, I have been running (a different version of) Ubuntu since Feb 2007. I had NO problem, ever, loading it from a downloaded .iso burned to a CD, and upgraded many times online since with the Synaptic Package Manager, and, re-installed several times from the original CD. The difference this time was that I downloaded the most recent .iso version, attempted to burn it to a CD, unsuccessfully, with numerous Ubuntu programs and several Windows ones, then was successful with Roxio Creator. (Didn't work = Brasero disc burner, Serpentine CD creator, Dvd95 converter, imgBurn, Nero, ..) Guess I was both overoptimistic and too inexperienced with the new-to-me Ubuntu options to make a good selection or use it well. Roxio was all I had when I did the 2007 original.

<P>Finally, attitude can mean a lot, from responders.
I came here to provide some feedback for improvements and seek some feedback for possible remedies. Going on the defence because someone questions the perfection of a version only drives others away. I was NOT blaming Ubuntu, or its creators, for my not being able to get THIS version to run. I was Questioning if this COULD be a problem or if there were some simple ways to remedy my experience.

Running Ubuntu on a few like-new computers at a university is no comparison to the unsheltered world of business where someone may have a 3, 5, 8 year or older computer, and where the computer MUST be operational every day. As I DID mention, I was putting this on the computer of a friend, who has a lot of info on it and use theirs every day. It isn't a disposable or play unit that is no problem if it has to be wiped and reloaded from scratch. I did ensure that all the info was backed up, in several ways. Yet a sure way to turn people away is to have a unit crap out at an office. With my previous GOOD experience, I did not expect that. That IS the predicament that some new users will face.

I will continue to do my best at removing the awkward dual boot menu my friend is left with. Thanks to Phil here for recommending some info on doing so. I leave the rest to others of you. I'm not risking the wrath of my friend further until I have a minted disc in hand, or, find a way to get an .iso of the 8.04 updated version I use.

[akand074]

Thats odd that those other software don't work. I used Brasero and most often Nero to burn my .ISOs just fine. Are you sure you burned it as an image and not a data disk? Nero usually says immediately when you add the ISO that the file is an image and do you want to burn the image. You should also always verify after download to make sure there wasn't any corruptions with the burn. And don't burn faster than the CD or DVD was made for.

About the dual boot menu, you could probably remove it by deleting the partitions that contain them (linux must have a partition right now otherwise you wouldn't have the dual boot menu). You could just use the partition manager in windows (if it can see journalizing file systems otherwise you might have to use one that can see them) to delete the linux partition and then just put the extra space wherever you want. It should be gone from the boot menu after that. Or uninstall grub from the linux recovery if that works but that would be useless because the partition would still be there but you wouldn't be able to see it.

I hope that helps at all.

[sunrise-7]

Thanks akand for the suggestions for removal of the residual boot menu.
Will try them when I get access to my friend's computer again.
No more required for now.
Thanks to all for your patience and diligence.

[photogolfer]

Thank you akando7 and presence1960 for your replies. Yes I did miss out the information about my graphics card which is Assus Extreme AX300 with 128mb on board. So, I should have the full installed 512mb available. I have used a variety of burning software including NCH Express Burn that was recommended somewhere on the Ubuntu Help sites. Also used Nero, CDBurnerXP amoungst others. Express Burn has the option to 'Write ISO image to disc' so presume that is Ok. When I 'explore' the disc it shows to have a variety of files and folders not just an ISO file. Also, I have tried to get started with the 'Install' option on several discs and that too fails part way through. It's alright you guys saying that it is a hardware problem, but your beloved system doesn't give any indication of what that problem might be. I agree again with sunrise-7 that if you are going to make a significant inroad into the ordinary computer user 'market' then your system simply has to be more tolerant. The claim is that Linux needs much less resource than MS Windows. I have Windows up and running so why on earth will Ubuntu not load? I have recently received a replacement disc for the 8.04 cover disc that wouldn't work and this 9.04 won't run either. I think I shall have to give it all up again after wasting another week trying to join the 'community' Thanks guys.:(:(:(

[presence1960]

Thank you akando7 and presence1960 for your replies. Yes I did miss out the information about my graphics card which is Assus Extreme AX300 with 128mb on board. So, I should have the full installed 512mb available. I have used a variety of burning software including NCH Express Burn that was recommended somewhere on the Ubuntu Help sites. Also used Nero, CDBurnerXP amoungst others. Express Burn has the option to 'Write ISO image to disc' so presume that is Ok. When I 'explore' the disc it shows to have a variety of files and folders not just an ISO file. Also, I have tried to get started with the 'Install' option on several discs and that too fails part way through. It's alright you guys saying that it is a hardware problem, but your beloved system doesn't give any indication of what that problem might be. I agree again with sunrise-7 that if you are going to make a significant inroad into the ordinary computer user 'market' then your system simply has to be more tolerant. The claim is that Linux needs much less resource than MS Windows. I have Windows up and running so why on earth will Ubuntu not load? I have recently received a replacement disc for the 8.04 cover disc that wouldn't work and this 9.04 won't run either. I think I shall have to give it all up again after wasting another week trying to join the 'community' Thanks guys.:(:(:(

Did you look at boot options (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions) paying attention to F4 & F6? Did you try the alternate text based installer (http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#alternate)?

I just looked up your video card. Your problem is most likely that video card. The reason why is AMD/ATI have withdrawn their support for open source drivers for all but their most recent vid cards. I would use one of the methods I described above or if you feel like experimenting remove the vid card and see if your Live CD will boot with the onboard graphics of your mobo.

[photogolfer]

Hi, I tried the alternative boot method with F4 and F5 but they are not active on the LiveCD's that I have and that includes ones supplied as cover discs from a magazine. Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't have onboard graphics so it seems that any experimenting would have to be with the purchase of a new card. I am going aaway for a week so that will give me chance to contemplate the use of Linux at this time. Having already spent a week messing around with my growing mountain of discs ( soon to become coastes ) I don't think that I shall bother any more. The whole thing is too much trouble. Judging by the number of people who have to resort to this forum with all sorts of install problems, I now understand just why Microsoft have made such inroads to the PC os market. There simply isn't an alternative that works out of the box as well as theirs do. I'll have another look when I get back but I think this is my first and last attempt at Linux. I'm very disappointed that you guys cannot do better after all these years. Farewell.:(:(

[akand074]

Hi, I tried the alternative boot method with F4 and F5 but they are not active on the LiveCD's that I have and that includes ones supplied as cover discs from a magazine. Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't have onboard graphics so it seems that any experimenting would have to be with the purchase of a new card. I am going aaway for a week so that will give me chance to contemplate the use of Linux at this time. Having already spent a week messing around with my growing mountain of discs ( soon to become coastes ) I don't think that I shall bother any more. The whole thing is too much trouble. Judging by the number of people who have to resort to this forum with all sorts of install problems, I now understand just why Microsoft have made such inroads to the PC os market. There simply isn't an alternative that works out of the box as well as theirs do. I'll have another look when I get back but I think this is my first and last attempt at Linux. I'm very disappointed that you guys cannot do better after all these years. Farewell.:(:(

Well thats because all the hardware was specifically designed to run on windows, so obviously it would run on windows. There aren't many drivers made for linux which is why there are so many people reverse engineering drivers to get them to work on linux. All software would work on linux too if companies spend a couple hours compiling it for linux or just made the source available so that we can compile it ourselves, they just don't.

Windows OS work out of the box because the companies took the time to make it work before you buy it. See I recently bought new hardware and built a computer temporary using my old hard drives. Linux boots fine and knows all the new hardware I have installed and is set up. Windows crashes instantly, before getting to the login screen, I'd have to put in a cd to install drivers before boot and then it'll get in probably where it probably will still have problems.

Windows is better for people who aren't very good with computers or don't have any patience or discipline to learn. It is designed to be so user friendly that it becomes a problem for advanced users.

Anyways in the end it seems that the problem was indeed a hardware problem, keep in mind your running windows XP which worked so if you tried a different, perhaps lighter version of linux it might work (there are hundreds). Or maybe try it on a newer computer in the future. If you need anything else feel free to post in our forums and I'm sure someone will be more than glad to help.

[presence1960]

Hi, I tried the alternative boot method with F4 and F5 but they are not active on the LiveCD's that I have and that includes ones supplied as cover discs from a magazine. Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't have onboard graphics so it seems that any experimenting would have to be with the purchase of a new card. I am going aaway for a week so that will give me chance to contemplate the use of Linux at this time. Having already spent a week messing around with my growing mountain of discs ( soon to become coastes ) I don't think that I shall bother any more. The whole thing is too much trouble. Judging by the number of people who have to resort to this forum with all sorts of install problems, I now understand just why Microsoft have made such inroads to the PC os market. There simply isn't an alternative that works out of the box as well as theirs do. I'll have another look when I get back but I think this is my first and last attempt at Linux. I'm very disappointed that you guys cannot do better after all these years. Farewell.:(:(

Going from windows to Linux is indeed a steep learning curve, even for some Windows power users. As far as having to learn everything over I compare it to the early days when I used windows. I didn't know WTF I was doing. It took time, aggravation & many failures to learn windows over time through trial & error. So it will be with linux for new users. If one is not willing to learn a whole new way of doing things then it is probably best to stick with windows. If one does not have the drive, determination and willingness to troubleshoot & fix problems then Windows is probably best for that person also.

I think the biggest sticking point is not in the fact that linux is "hard" but rather that it is so radically different than windows. But that is not linux's fault, it was built to be different than windows. That is where it's strengths lie.

I know a lot of people who use linux want to overthrow windows in the market share, but quite frankly in spite of any propaganda you may hear, including from Canonical- Linux is not for every one! As a matter of fact a good portion of windows users only want to power on their machine and use it. They do not want to learn anything about windows. It is like a toaster to them, they pop in the bread and expect toast! It is a fair assumption to say those types of windows users (which are a majority of them) should not use linux.

I know I may get flamed for the above but I am only stating the truth. Linux is not for everyone nor should it be so. If it ever reaches that dubious distinction it will probably be at the expense of what makes linux what it is and at the expense of it's strongest traits as an OS. For it is just those things that thwart most windows users when they try linux. To make it so those users will stomach linux will most likely mean that linux will only vaguely resemble the linux we know today.

[presence1960]

Windows OS work out of the box because the companies took the time to make it work before you buy it.

+1

Restoring windows from a recovery CD/DVD or a recovery partition does not qualify as installing a windows OS because all the drivers and software are on that CD/DVD/partition and installed all for you. All the formatting and partitioning is done for you with no input on the users part.

Now if you have ever installed Windows from a retail or OEM version of a windows install CD/DVD you will have found after the installation that not all your hardware is working and you will have to install the drivers if you have them or search for them online. If you don't do this then your hardware will not work even though it is windows you are running.

In my opinion the worst thing computer manufacturers could have done is the recovery partition or recovery CD/DVDs. It is because of those that today so many have no clue as to what is really involved in installing an OS. This has created a generation of computer non-savvy users.

[akand074]

Exactly. Linux isn't for everyone. Its for people who strive to learn, people who care about their computers, people who are willing to take the time to learn how to optimize their environment to help them do the things they do often more efficiently and faster. If you want that already done for you, well you can get a generic version of that with windows.

When I first started using linux I actually only occasionally booted to it but spent most of the time on windows. One day I got fed up with the little problems that occur in windows and shut it down and swore never to go back to windows on my desktop again. I went into ubuntu and did just that. It took weeks until I got the general hang of linux. When that happened I wondered what I was doing with my life all these years not using linux, I could never go back. Yes theres problems with linux, but there is ALWAYS a solution, or at least a reason for the problem. With windows, stuff happen for no reason out of nowhere! It makes no sense! Something freezes, or stops working, or a driver disappears, or services stop booting for no reason. And sometimes they come back for no reason without you even doing anything. One thing I really don't get with windows is why when an application freezes, you can't even move it or anything it just stays frozen on the screen? With linux if that ever happens even if you couldn't kill the process you can just drag it to the corner of the screen or something with windows if you get a freeze its game over.

My message is to any new users to linux, if your not willing to learn, linux is not for you. Ubuntu is famous for their community, your not alone. Take the time and learn as much as you can about computers, your computer, and your operating system. What is actually going on when you do anything. It sometimes makes it easier to troubleshoot. Once you get the hang of it and you have linux up and running the way you want, your whole perspective toward computers will probably change.

Anyways, if your dedicated and willing to learn, linux is the best operating system for you.

[sleepingdogg]

Hello. I seem to be having the exact same problem described in this thread.

I burned the ISO on a CD 3 different times using ISORecorderV3 as described

in the "BurningIsoHowto" section of the "ubuntu.com" site. I followed the

instructions and when I load the CD and reboot my PC, I select the language

and then the "Install Ubuntu" option, but I can only seem to get to an

orange screen before everything stalls and goes no further. I even tried

the "alternate text-based installer" as recommended in this thread but it

did not help. I tried the F4 "Safe Graphics Mode" option but that did not

help. Same orange screen with a pointer that, sometimes, doesn't move when

I use the mouse. Everything just stays stuck on that screen. I seem to

have the proper specs on my old PC:


Dell Dimension XPS T500

BIOS Version - A07
Processor Type - Pentium (R) III
Processor Speed - 500 MHz
Cache RAM - 512 KB
System Memory - 128 MB
Memory Bank 0 - 128 MB SDRAM
Video Card - 8MB ATI XPERT 98D 3D AGP Graphics Card
Hard Drive - Western Digital 80 GB (WD800JB)
CD ROM Drive - ATAPI 8X DVD ROM




After about 5 minutes of the "pulsating" ubuntu logo on a black background,

and with my CD Rom Drive sounding like it is having an asthma attack (seems

to rev up and down during the entire 5 minutes), lines of text show on the

screen and multiple lines say, "Buffer I/O error on sr0, logical block

353416/353417". I don't know what this means for installation purposes.

Does anyone have any idea how I can install Ubuntu 9.10 on my PC. I should

probably mention that the HD is 80 GB and currently has nothing on it. I

formatted it for NTFS through Windows XP. Any help would be greatly

appreciated as I am to the point of abandonment of my Linux dream at this

point. I spent WAY too much time trying to do what I thought would be a

simple install and I'm ready to move on to something more user friendly at

this point. Thanks in advance.